Monday, April 18, 2011

Yesterday I saw (and bought!) a bag of key limes at the grocery store, and today the sun (or what passes for it in Portland this spring) is threatening to shine. It’s reminding me of my trip to Key West.

Key lime by Persian lime

Key limes are much smaller than the familiar Persian lime we generally see in the grocery store. They also are more acidic, have a thinner rind, and more pronounced scent and flavor. Their juice is light yellow—so please don’t add green food coloring to your pie (the grated rind will tint it slightly)!

My Key Lime Pie

Key lime pie’s filling is traditionally made with just key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk (there were no cows in the Keys when the pie was invented in the late 19th century). Be sure you use sweetened condensed milk. I always read the label twice, to be sure I didn’t accidentally pick up a can of evaporated milk—it won’t work here.

The pie traditionally wasn’t baked; instead, the acidic key lime juice reacted with the sweetened condensed milk (the process is called ‘souring’) to ‘cook’ the pie. It’s the same process that is at work in ceviche and many soured milk products. These days, at least in restaurants, it’s always baked.

When I was in Key West in January I ate a lot of key lime pie. Most often I ate the classic version: graham cracker crust, key lime juice, egg yolk, and sweetened condensed milk. There’s some debate over whether the pie should have a crumb crust or a pastry crust. The pie is chilled, and I prefer how the crumb crust tastes cold. But don’t get me wrong. I wouldn't say no to a pie with a pastry crust.

Pie at Azur

Sometimes the classic version was dressed up a bit. At Azur Restaurant it was cut in a square, its top lightly caramelized, and a parade of sliced strawberries were just begging to be knocked over like dominos.

Pie at Marker 88

At Marker 88 in Islamorada the pie was topped with a pile of meringue and garnished with more strawberries, tangerine, and mint.

Pie at Versailles

And at Versailles in Miami’s Little Havana a thin layer of meringue was piped on the top, its ridges deeply toasted. Their pie, incidentally, can also be bought at the adjoining bakery. It’s in the bakery case, next to the cigars.

Sometimes the pies were riffs on the traditional. At Sarabeth’s I had a delicious key lime cream pie, its filling lightened (and considerably heightened!) with whipped cream.

Of course I brought key limes home with me, and made my own pie. The recipe I followed, more or less, originally came from Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. They found that the pie sets better when baked 15 minutes, so I did that.

My Pie

The result? Much better than most of the pies I had in Florida. Mine was creamier, and a bit looser. The Florida pies were baked longer, and generally made with bottled juice, which gives a slightly bitter taste to the pie. Mine also had grated rind, which those made with bottled juice lacked.

But (and it’s a big but). There’s not a lot to mess up in this pie, so whether I ate it at a fish joint right by Key West’s main tourist strip,

I'm making it now-made the crust tonight and will finish it tomorrow. The last time I made one I used Nabisco honey grahams for the crust-big mistake. They had such an overwhelming chemical flavoring that it spoiled the whole pie for me.

This time I bought New Morning honey grahams (I should have done that the first time but I was in a hurry). I also decided to brown the butter for the crust to see how that would be-will let you know how it turns out.